This application generally relates to a video game and, more particularly, to a video game including a time dilation effect. The application also describes a storage medium storing software for such a video game.
Many of us have seen films containing remarkably realistic dinosaurs, aliens, animated toys and other fanciful creatures. Such animations are made possible by computer graphics. Using such techniques, a computer graphics artist can specify how each object should look and how it should change in appearance over time, and a computer then models the objects and displays them on a display such as your television or a computer screen. The computer takes care of performing the many tasks required to make sure that each part of the displayed image is colored and shaped just right based on the position and orientation of each object in a scene, the direction in which light seems to strike each object, the surface texture of each object, and other factors.
Because computer graphics generation is complex, computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) graphics just a few years ago were mostly limited to expensive specialized flight simulators, high-end graphics workstations and supercomputers. The public saw some of the images generated by these computer systems in movies and expensive television advertisements, but most couldn't actually interact with the computers doing the graphics generation. All this has changed with the availability of relatively inexpensive 3D graphics platforms such as, for example, the Nintendo GameCube® and various 3D graphics cards now available for personal computers. It is now possible to interact with exciting 3D animations and simulations on relatively inexpensive computer graphics systems in home or office.
This application describes an example video game that can be played on 3D graphics platforms. Although not limited in this respect, the example video game is a first person game in which the player plays the game as if he or she looking out of his or her own eyes. The video game involves a ghost that is capable of “possessing” various hosts such as game characters and game objects in order to accomplish game objectives. When the ghost possesses a host, the game view is shifted to that of the possessed host. That is, the player sees the game world through the eyes or viewpoint of the possessed host. In one aspect of the example video game, when the player is in ghost form, the ghost is able to move much faster than other characters in the game. To simulate this, the ‘real game world’ is slowed down. This slowing down of the game world provides the ghost with special abilities to move quickly in a very short period of “game world” time. Thus, for example, a ghost can race past other characters in order to lay traps or to assist the other characters.
In another aspect of the example video game, the laws of physics may vary depending on whether the player is in ghost form or possessing a host. For example, when the player is in ghost form and the real world has been slowed down, certain changes may be made to the laws of motion to provide enhanced visual effects. For example, objects propelled by an explosion might travel higher and further in the slowed down game world view than in the normal game world view. Of course, while the slowing of time and changing of the laws of physics are used in combination in this example, these features may in fact be used separately from one another.
These and other features and advantages will be better and more completely understood by referring to the following detailed description of example embodiments in conjunction with the drawings.